168 MATESHIP WITH BIRDS 



No such misunderstandings occur between the 

 Wagtail and the Peewee. Quite frequently, in fact, 

 and for year after year, they nest in the same tree, 

 the finely-modelled mud nest, as shapely as its 

 graceful owners, occupying a position on a lofty, 

 horizontal branch, and the beautiful little cup- 

 shaped, cob-webbed home of the Wagtail resting 

 unobtrusively on a lower limb. That there is more 

 than chance in this arrangement may readily be 

 believed ; but one has to remember that other factors 

 than the protective instinct favor the practice. The 

 two species, for instance, though occupying distinct 

 places in the scheme of natural balance, frequently 

 feed in company on grassy flats. The larger bird 

 has not the flitting Fly-catcher's ability to snap up 

 insects disturbed by the warm breath of animals 

 I once counted 23 Wagtails dancing attendance on 

 17 cows in a Brisbane suburb but it does much 

 towards freeing them from pestiferous insects. 

 Like the Wagtail of James Thomas's fine poem, the 

 dainty Peewee may be seen: 



In its suit of white and black 

 On some old, sedate cow's back; 



Stopping now, as though to say: 

 "If I'm heavy, tell me, pray." 



Be it noted, too, that the Peewee has almost as 

 much to say for itself as the "merry, babbling, rest- 

 less bird," whose "sweet pretty creature" (voiced 

 by night as well as by day) is known to almost every 

 Australian child. "What both birds lack in 

 strength," observes Mr. Harvey, "they make up in 

 noise." "It is called the Magpie-Lar/c," a small girl 

 gravely informed me, "because it is so merry/' 



